Aerial Imaging Provides a Look at our Changing Cities and Planet

By Karen L. Edwards, RCS Editor.

Aerial imaging isn’t new, but the technologies behind it are continually improving, bringing increased benefits to communities and businesses around the world.

Many roofing contractors use aerial imaging every day in the course of business. It’s used to scope out job sites, to plan for equipment placement, review hazards and extract roof measurements. It can be used post-storms to determine extent of damage and to understand where to send crews.

But if you take a step back and look at the big picture, this aerial imagery that we use every day also provides visual data that scientists can use to monitor areas of growth, detect deterioration over a specific period of time and determine where work needs to be focused on saving natural resources.

Documenting our cities, neighborhoods and communities around the world provides a visual history of our world as well. Take the recent Notre Dame Cathedral fire for example. It was 3D mapped in 2015 by a college professor and now those scans and images are going to prove invaluable for rebuilding.

Did you ever wonder just how aerial mapping happens? We asked our friends at Nearmap, a leading provider of aerial mapping and property measurements to break it down for us. There are basically four methods of capture and each has their benefits as well as challenges.

1 – Satellite. Satellite imagery is readily available on a common platform with little to no cost. It’s quick and simple to navigate and provides global coverage. Challenges with satellite imagery are that the data is captured on a less frequent basis, atmospheric elements can block views and fewer angles are captured.

2 – Aerial (fixed-wing). Aerial capture provides up to four times greater resolution than satellite and is typically captured two to three times per year – more frequently than satellite. The aerial imagery integrates well with other data sources such as ArcGIS and AutoCAD and features many views including vertical, panorama, oblique and 3D. Challenges with aerial are that the coverage can vary and most of the 3D is more focused on urban areas.

3 – Drone. Drone-captured imagery is a higher resolution image and provides the ability to get closer to the area of interest. Drones can capture multiple angles and can capture video as well. Challenges with drone imagery is that the photos are not as rich as the video capture and the drone operator must be in relative proximity to the area of interest.

4 – LiDAR. LiDAR provides a higher accuracy of data and a higher sample density. Elevation data is easier to obtain in a dense canopy situation. Challenges with LiDAR are that it’s a more expensive option and the output datasets are very large. It’s complex and time consuming to process.

For roofing contractors, MapBrowser from Nearmap provides high-definition aerial images of buildings and project sites that allow for verification of roof details, calculation of labor, material and other costs.

See for yourself how aerial high definition imagery can help you in your roofing business by requesting their white paper: Using Aerial Mapping to Grow Your Business.   

Reference: Nearmap.